Not a pipe dream

At the age of 17, with the reality of being a father setting in, Leroy Letto knew he was going to have to make a life for his newborn daughter.

After graduating from high school, he ventured to university with an eye on getting into business and one day getting into law — but that takes time that Letto knew he didn’t have.

Having grown up in Newfoundland, Letto decided to get his naval architecture diploma so he could design ships and boats.

“You delve into so many facets of design with that type of diploma, and I knew it would be something that could open up many doors for me down the road,” said Letto.

“Eventually I knew I wanted to get into the construction side of the oil field business.

“A piece of pipe is a piece of pipe, a piece of steel is a piece of steel. Working with those commodities, it doesn’t matter what you’re building.”

After spending many years flying back and forth from Newfoundland to Alberta for work in the oil industry, Letto moved his family across the country six years ago.

He was committed to a life working in the oil industry.

Letto recently moved into a construction co-ordinator role with Cenovus Energy and works in the module yard in Nisku, Alta.

Letto assembles pre-fabricated items and builds the module before it gets put to use on an oil field site.

“Steel modules are done within two weeks, and the modules that are filled with pipe can take up to three months to assemble,” said Letto.

“The great thing I love about the job is that each module allows for its own construction.”

Cenovus is a Canadian oil company and one of the industry’s leading oil sands producers. The company uses specialized methods to drill and pump the oil to the surface at its two oil sands developments.

Cenovus chose to build its oil sands facilities in Nisku because it’s close to a major urban centre. Workers are able to sleep in their own beds every night.

“That was the single biggest reason why I wanted to work for Cenovus. With my previous employer the next progression of my career would have forced me to go up north and move my family — I wanted no part of that,” said Letto.

“I’ve only been here for six months, but Cenovus is really innovative and they encourage their employees to expand and go out of their comfort zones. It’s been a really good experience.”